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    Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest

    JustTheFacts
    JustTheFacts


    Posts : 5142
    Join date : 2013-09-01
    Age : 62
    Location : Western Australia

    Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest Empty Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest

    Post by JustTheFacts Sat May 31, 2014 2:31 am

    Awakening: The Redleaf Forest
    by Boomzap Entertainment - May, 2014

    Series links: Awakening 1: The Dreamless Castle, Awakening 2: Moonfell Wood, Awakening 3: The Goblin Kingdom, Awakening 4: The Skyward Castle, Awakening 5: The Sunhook Spire, Awakening Kingdoms "Free-to-Play", Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest, Awakening 7: The Golden Age

    Available at:
    Big Fish as Collector's Edition / Standard Edition

    Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest Awakening-the-redleaf-forest-ce_feature

    Queen Sophia embarks on one final journey to rescue her parents and to defeat Dreadmyre once and for all. Her search has led her to the Redleaf Forest where she is to find the centaur who can help her forge the Blade of Courage. Will Sophia finally defeat the evil which has shadowed over her journey and be able to reunite with her parents?

    The Collector’s Edition includes:

    • Strategy Guide
    • Hidden collectibles and Achievements
    • Replayable cutscenes, music, wallpaper and concept art
    • Bonus Game: Create seeds and grow unique flowers
    • Bonus chapter: Meet the Skyward Kingdom's littlest princess!

    For the Standard Edition

    Click images to enlarge
    Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest Th_screen1_Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest Th_screen2_Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest Th_screen3
    JustTheFacts
    JustTheFacts


    Posts : 5142
    Join date : 2013-09-01
    Age : 62
    Location : Western Australia

    Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest Empty Re: Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest

    Post by JustTheFacts Sat May 31, 2014 2:33 am

    Must Have For Me!*****

    BASED ON DEMO

    FIRST IMPRESSIONS
    LOVE how the main menu page looks 3D. The intro cut-scene covers the backstory well in just a few words. And then we are straight into the action. New twist on the vehicle accident *wink*.

    SIGHTS & SOUNDS
    As always, the graphics for the Awakening series are extraordinarily pretty, even when the quality is a leeetle bit off. The colours and imaginative locations, the clear and beautifully detailed objects – all as lovely as ever. The voiceovers continue from the previous games and are all very well done. The music is the signature tune plus a nice variety of others and many of the sound effects are also the same as previously.

    The trailer at the end of the demo, graphically speaking, was very poor quality.

    WHAT’S HAPPENING?
    Our Queen Sophia is still looking to free her parents from the poisoned sleep induced by the evil Dredmyre. Could you enjoy this story without the previous games? I think yes. I enjoyed what I did despite not having finished the Awakening 5 game. (I know, shocking isn’t it?) But it would certainly help, since this is the final episode, that you have played the other games and can enjoy the upcoming sense of closure I am so looking forward to. There has been just one too many of these games.

    Sophia must find the only blacksmith in the world that can forge the sword she needs to defeat Dredmyre permanently. Of course, everything goes wrong. I shall not say more, for it would spoil the effect, but all most certainly does not go as you’d expect it to. The end of the demo was such that I would have to buy this game just to get past that point emotionally. I say no more.

    GAMEPLAY
    There is some nicely refreshing gameplay here. The HOPs (21) are interactive list and progressive silhouettes, and the lists have some really clever twists to each of the 2 I completed. The mini-games (43) are also different, but not at all difficult yet. I completed a ‘puzzle board’ styled game without hint or skip, which is probably a first for me.

    There is no journal, but a teleporting hint and an interactive jump map that indicates active tasks (on the lowest of 3 difficulty levels), cover most situations. The hint is our friend the owl again, and we still have our pet Pocket Dragon. Tasks are noted as they are added.

    The demo only took me 45 minutes, and covered the first 2 chapters of 7.

    CE BLING!
    The gallery items include wallpapers x12, nice ones. Concept Art & Cut Scenes not available. Music x 12. Achievements, many. Mostly performance based. There are flower stones to collect (45), which can be used in the Garden, and Lilies to collect in there.

    The Garden looks pretty cool. Enough for me to buy the CE for the first time with this series. You must buy seeds with your flower stones, collect them with a Match 3-like mini-game, and then combine and plant them in order to create the lilies from recipes. They are fun ones like “laughing lilies. (I didn’t get this from the demo, it was available in the beta) I enjoyed this unusual twist.

    COMBINED IMPACT
    Well, obviously, I liked it! I think its high points are the anticipation of a satisfying finish. The deeply emotional involvement right from the demo, and the freshness of the gameplay. I also think the bonus game in the Garden works.

    I recommend this game!
    luvtoread
    luvtoread


    Posts : 1171
    Join date : 2012-09-06
    Age : 64
    Location : Johnstown, NY

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    Post by luvtoread Sat May 31, 2014 1:30 pm

    I have played all  the Awakening games.    Could not help myself.   I will say you get your
    money's worth with this series.
    Haven't they been trapped for about 100 years or so?    Must say they are all well preserved.
    genkicoll
    genkicoll


    Posts : 8430
    Join date : 2011-12-28
    Age : 51
    Location : Pacific Northwest

    Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest Empty Re: Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest

    Post by genkicoll Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:15 am

    Awakening 6: The Redleaf Forest (IHOG)
    The Steam overlay does not work with this title

    Options include Full-screen, Custom Cursor, Achievements Notifications and separate sliders for Sound, Music and Voiceovers.  Choice of Relaxed, Normal or Dreadmyre! mode. 

    NOTE: If you have black bars at the top and bottom of the screen when you enter, switch your desktop resolution to 1024x768, and it will run full-screen.

    Story:

    Queen Sofia's quest to save her parents is finally nearing its end.  Join her on her search for the centaur-blacksmith who can help her forge the only weapon that can defeat Dreadmyre - The Blade of Courage.  It's not only her parents' lives that hang in the balance, but creatures across many kingdoms.  This is her most dangerous journey, as she is faced with fierce creatures and Dreadmyre himself!

    We have NO Journal, but we have a "companion" on the left side of the screen that we can click on for a task list (of sorts), and of course our friends Ran the Owl (our HINT button) and our helpful pocket dragon are ever by our side.

    Gameplay:

    For those who are sensitive: There is one spider that we have to interact with.

    Be on the lookout for Collectible Flower Stones as you play.  There's at least one at each location, but there are also "Golden Collectibles", which are flower stones that kind of wink in and out of sight.  Hard to spot, and you never know when a scene will have that 2nd stone on it!  These stones are used to upgrade your garden (see the bonus content area below  for more info.)

    This installment in the Awakening series feels different than the previous games, as the formula I've become accustomed to has been changed.  It seems more adventure-heavy, with less of an emphasis on the mini-games.  The variety of HOS types is still there, but I'll come back to that in a bit.

    Our MAP is easier-to-read, interactive, and can show us where active areas are.  We can insta-transport, but it does NOT show you where you might have missed a collectible! 

    Instead of being done in a way that closes off locations when you finish a chapter, these places stay "open" throughout the game (very helpful for finding flower stones!)  Not only that, but we will end up coming back to an area and finding new locations there.  It's all tied together very nicely by the story, and did not interrupt the flow of the game... In fact, I found it more enjoyable this way!

    Using HINTS during the adventure portion will do one of three things:  Point you towards an area on the screen, give you a directional arrow, or give you a popup telling you which location to go to, along with a "Take me there" button (insta-transport).  Usually after you transport, the hint will show you where on the screen you need to look (instead of having to use another hint.)

    The Hidden Object Scenes are widely-varied by type.  We have our standard find-by-list scenes, but most of the time they're heavily-interactive.  You may need to flip switches to see different parts of the scene, solve puzzles, zoom in, etc.  There are also scenes where you find-by-silhouette (and these can also be highly-interactive), placing items back in the scene, finding where pictured squares are on the scene, finding multiples of items and more!

    Sights and Sounds:

    As you might imagine from the name Redleaf Forest, the game is gorgeously rife with rich colors, and yet the devs did a beautiful job of making sure that every location looks different (NOT the same color palette for every single location - a pet peeve of mine.)

    The voices are almost all very well done, the music is just lovely and the sound effects fit perfectly with what we're doing.

    CE Content:

    • Integrated Strategy Guide
    • 45 Collectible Flower Stones and "Golden Collectibles"
    • 18 Achievements
    • Bonus Chapter
    • 19 Rewatchable Cutscenes
    • 12 Wallpapers
    • 8 Concept Art
    • 12 Music Tracks (no option to save)
    • Garden mini-games

    Garden:

    The garden has multiple areas.  Zoom in to the giant flower to use the collectible flower stones and unlock seed pods.  One you've unlocked a pod, you'll need to do a match-3-puzzle (remove all of the pieces) to obtain a special seed.  There are 15 seed pods which you can unlock.

    NOTE: Once you finish the game, you cannot go back in to collect flower stones that you might have missed.  Same with the bonus chapter.  You have to start a new profile if you want to play again.

    Seed pods are used in the seed area to create different varieties of laughing lilies.  Combine two seeds and then water to see if you've found a successful combo.  Each variety you discover will be displayed in your garden-totem area.

    The third zoom-in area of your garden is the treasure chest, where you have 14 of the "Convert all the seeds into the same type" mini-games.  Each one is a bit harder than the last, so it's not just the same thing over and over again.

    Bonus Chapter:

    The bonus takes place at least four years after the main game ends, as we take on the role of nanny to the kingdom's young and precocious princess.

    You can tell that whomever worked on this chapter has children, as little Andreia's voice, dialogue and mannerisms are absolutely perfect.  It was a delightful way to wrap up this final story that has covered these past six games.

    There are 10 all-new locations in the bonus, and they packed a whole lot of game into those places - It took me nearly two hours to complete!

    Be sure to check out any books you come across!  One of them gives you the fate of varying creatures/people whom you interacted with across these past 6 games!  It was very nice to have that extra bit of unexpected closure!

    Verdict:

    This is the final game with Sophia as the protagonist, and the darkest of the series.  This is not to say that the game dives into dark & eerie territory, but you can certainly feel the danger that you are up against.  I love that the bonus chapter takes us years into the future, and gives us such delightful closure to Sophia's story.  Highly recommended!

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